{"id":2782,"date":"2016-10-31T08:55:04","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T14:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.rootsmagic.com\/?p=2782"},"modified":"2016-11-03T10:12:06","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T16:12:06","slug":"happy-30th-birthday-rootsmagic-part-4-the-vegas-gamble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.rootsmagic.com\/?p=2782","title":{"rendered":"Happy 30th Birthday, RootsMagic! Part 4: The Vegas Gamble"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RM-30th-Anniversary\"<\/a><\/p>\n

NOTE: This is Part 4\u00a0in our ongoing series documenting the history of our company. If you’re just joining us, be sure to read Part 1<\/a>, Part 2<\/a>, and Part 3<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As our customer base for QubeCalc slowly grew, we began to get requests for a \u201cmore powerful\u201d version of the program. \u00a0This really hit home when we exhibited at COMDEX Fall in November 1988. \u00a0It cost us almost $3000 for a 10×10 foot exhibit space, and once we set up, we realized we were really out of our league. \u00a0We didn\u2019t have employees, so I worked the booth by myself the entire five days. \u00a0We took the kids and drove down to Las Vegas, and spent the week at the Motel 6. \u00a0During the conference, all I kept hearing was \u201cCan the program do this like 1-2-3? \u00a0Can the program do that like 1-2-3?\u201d \u00a0It made it clear that low-cost wasn\u2019t enough, the program had to be more powerful.<\/span><\/p>\n

I returned from COMDEX and spent the next year on a rewrite of QubeCalc, taking what worked well, changing what didn\u2019t, and adding more \u201cwonderfulness\u201d to it. \u00a0In September of 1989, we released \u201cProQube,\u201d so named because I figured it was a \u201cprofessional\u201d version of QubeCalc. \u00a0We decided that to be taken seriously, it shouldn\u2019t be shareware, and it should be more expensive. \u00a0People kept telling me that a $69.95 spreadsheet obviously couldn\u2019t compete with $495 programs, so we priced ProQube at $249.95 and put it in one of those fancy 3 ring binder slipcases like Microsoft and other \u201creal software companies\u201d used. \u00a0The problem is, if you didn\u2019t order thousands of those binders at a time, they cost about $25 each.<\/span><\/p>\n

And then if your $250 program doesn\u2019t sell very well, you\u2019re stuck with a bunch of very expensive binders. \u00a0After a year of slow sales, I lowered the price to $99 and created a light version of ProQube (called ProQube Lite) which I released as shareware and priced at $25. \u00a0We switched to a much cheaper cardboard box like the one in this MicroWarehouse ad from 1990.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"MicroWarehouseAd\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This decision brought in enough sales for one final shot at COMDEX. \u00a0We spent nearly every last penny to make an impression at COMDEX \u201890. \u00a0We even bought a full-page ad in the COMDEX guide book. \u00a0We knew that we needed something big to come out of this show or it would be the end of the road, and I would have to go get a “real job” again.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the show, a guy from the Justice Department came by the booth and asked for a demonstration of our products. \u00a0He didn\u2019t really say much, but came back the next day and said that the department needed a site license for their agents in the field. \u00a0It looked like our ship had finally come in. \u00a0They were actually interested in our InstaCalc program to install on the portable computers of all department field agents. \u00a0They didn\u2019t want to pay the high price for one of the big spreadsheet programs, but they were planning to spend more than enough to put our little company in good shape.<\/span><\/p>\n

After COMDEX had ended, I spent the rest of the year corresponding back and forth with government paper pushers and continued several months into 1991. \u00a0With each passing day, week, and month I became more convinced that this was not going to happen in my lifetime. \u00a0As I was complaining to my wife about it, she suggested I call the 2 guys in trenchcoats who had given me their cards back at COMDEX. \u00a0I wasn\u2019t even sure where I had put their card since it had been 3-4 months since COMDEX ended.<\/span><\/p>\n

I finally found the card under a pile of papers and decided to give them a call. \u00a0Some guy named Bob Parsons who had a software company called Parsons Technology. \u00a0I hadn\u2019t ever heard of them, but I figured I had nothing to lose at this point. \u00a0I called Bob, and we talked for some time as he told me they were really looking to add a spreadsheet program to their product offerings. \u00a0After several weeks of negotiations, we licensed our ProQube program to them, and they renamed it ProCalc 3D.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"ProCalcManual\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This was the beginning of a new phase in our company\u2019s history. \u00a0We were now a software development company rather than a publisher. \u00a0We no longer had to worry about sales, support, marketing or anything else other than developing and enhancing our software. \u00a0Even so, it became a great opportunity to learn the ins and outs of software publishing from a much larger company.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the release of ProCalc 3D, our first monthly royalty check from Parsons was more than we had made in a full year selling the software ourselves. \u00a0We were able to pay off credit cards, parents, and other assorted loans over the next year to put our company back in good fiscal shape.<\/span><\/p>\n

But despite the success of ProCalc 3D, it was our next product that came to define us and set our company in a new direction that we have been traveling ever since.<\/span><\/p>\n

NEXT: The World of Genealogy<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOTE: This is Part 4\u00a0in our ongoing series documenting the history of our company. If you’re just joining us, be sure to read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. As our customer base for QubeCalc slowly grew, we began to get requests for a \u201cmore powerful\u201d version of the program. \u00a0This really hit home […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[41],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.rootsmagic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2782"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.rootsmagic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.rootsmagic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.rootsmagic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.rootsmagic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2782"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/blog.rootsmagic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2804,"href":"http:\/\/blog.rootsmagic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2782\/revisions\/2804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.rootsmagic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.rootsmagic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.rootsmagic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}